We’ve been hunkering down financially for 4 weeks now, next
week I’ll do an overall view of January combined with a kick start for February
and answer the question of did we meet our financial goals for January.
However, since we have almost another full week to go before
the month ends, we need to keep our focus on the here and now.
That can sometimes be difficult to do, can’t it? Especially if the here and now is not exactly
a ‘fun’ place to be.
But who said hunkering down financially would be fun?
But, then again, who said it couldn’t be?
It all depends on our mindset!
Are we throwing ourselves a royal pity-party right about now, dwelling
on all the things we have chosen not to do.
That’s right, we are choosing to hunker down financially purposefully
and intentionally and all that that entails.
No one’s forcing us, it’s our choice, a choice that we will be so
thankful we made and stuck to when the next financial ‘emergency’ pops up, when
we make the last payment on a debt, or when something breaks down that needs to
be repaired or replaced.
That’s when we will know beyond a shadow of doubt, that it
will have all been worth it!
So, let’s get busy and stay busy …
Here's what hunkering down looked like at our house this week
…
We stayed within our budget.
Hubby continued to take his lunch to work each day from home.
We had an occasion where we needed to eat out, so, we made
selections that had our total bill come in slightly under $20 for the both of
us. We felt like we did pretty good,
especially when you factor in that we brought enough leftovers home for another
meal.
Other than the above-mentioned eating out, we ate all our
meals at home.
Hubby needed to replace a part on a medical appliance that he uses,
and he found it on Amazon. The price was
less than the $35 minimum order required to get free shipping, so I used some
affiliate money I had been saving and added a book to the order which then
qualified our order for free shipping.
Always consider all your options when it comes to spending money, slow
down and take time to consider them all.
It could benefit you greatly!
I said no when the temptation came to add a few more items to
the above Amazon order. For a few seconds though, I had a battle going on in my mind. I even went so far as to reason it all out in my thinking process. It went something like this … “I’ve
been really good with not spending and I’ve done really well staying on budget
this month and we’re doing really good with our goals and so on and so on.” I had it all figured out in my mind! Do you have conversations like that with
yourself when you’re trying to justify doing something you know you shouldn’t
do? I’m happy to report that I quickly
closed out the order and walked away.
After the ‘testing’ was over, I was really proud of myself for not
giving in. I know though, not to get too sure of myself as there will certainly
be many more times of ‘testing’ ahead before we get through this year of
hunkering down.
We’ve had a whole string of no-spend days other than fuel for
our vehicles.
If you read this post, then you will know that I’m
auditing an online class for free at a Christian University. There are 3 books required for the class and
I chose not to purchase them. Instead,
I’m utilizing the library app Libby, and finding workarounds for the one I
can’t get. Where there’s a will, there’s
a way and since I’m only auditing the class, I’ll make do with this
arrangement.
What about you, how did you do this week? Anyone besides me have to fight off the temptation demon?
I can't wait to read how
you hunkered down financially this week.
One more
thing, for the ladies who are following our book of Esther ladies Bible study,
lesson 15 has been posted HERE!
until next time,
mrs.
patsi @ A Working Pantry
She
looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living
and pantry building
My second blog: From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and
His Word through my personal Bibe study. Physical preparedness is
important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness. Ladies,
join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.
You can view my privacy
policy HERE.
Thank you for using
my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I
earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps
me keep my pantry well-stocked!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.
I had to smile when you mentioned the temptation demon, as I was just thinking of those old Loony Tunes cartoons where the characters often had an angel sitting on one shoulder and an imp on the other! It's been a stormy week here in the UK, with high winds, but luckily we escaped any damage to our property. We stayed at home, apart from a trip to see our doctor and a grocery shop today. I processed some chillies I had dried to make chilli flakes, my neighbour gave me some empty jars for preserving and some bananas, slightly past their best, which ended up in a banana loaf.
ReplyDeleteTracey, LOL, I had the same thought about the Loony Tunes cartoon characters!!! Overripe bananas make the best banana bread!
DeleteI'm glad you survived the storms and had no property damage. High winds can be scary.
I had to smile over your temptation and rationalization on the Amazon order. I believe I walked a mile in those shoes of yours this week. My biggest temption is craft supplies and oh, the sales that are going on with my favorite supplier. The antedote for me was to go into my craft room and take a little inventory of everything and get busy working in new ways with what I have (which is a lot). So victory. We met our savings goals this week rebuilding our emergency fund. We had all meals at home and some were use it up meals. We deep cleaned the kitchen and all of the cabinets, we deep cleaned the pellet stove. I will only need a few fresh veggies so we will combine a trip to the farm, post office and bank today, thus saving on gas. On the way we will stop at the new Amish store which just opened up about 2 miles from us. Unbelievably it is located on their farm and they raise their own beef, chickens, and pork, that is for sale, as well as source other things like organic veggies, raw honey, and a host of other necessities. We are feeling very blessed to have these resources available to us to complement what we do. Cookie
ReplyDeleteCookie, I wish I could have gone to that Amish store with you! I like your thought of 'get busy working in new ways with what I have.' I need to remember that the next time I think I need something more than what I have. Congratulations for meeting your savings goal this week, we're on target to meet ours this month if nothing happens to derail us before the end of the month.
DeleteIn one of Oscar Wilde's plays, there's a line--"I can resist everything except temptation."
ReplyDeleteGOOD for you, Patsy, for resisting! Yes, it's something I struggle with, too. One example this week was about usefulness; when I discovered the leaf lettuce was still perfectly fresh after 2 weeks, and a sale price was offered, I ordered another small set of Locknlock containers for <$20. Thing is, I was only interested in one item in the set for keeping produce fresh. Otherwise I did alright.
We ate every meal at home from what we have on hand. When a check arrived, it was immediately deposited w/o any cash back. Hubs took a bunch of returns to the post office for me. Grocery purchases were only milk, cheese, bread and cereal. I've got to start baking bread!! But I was able to resist other temptations. Motivation helps, and we got fresh motivation this week when we got quotes for the cost of an oral surgeon I'll see next week. That's on top of the dentist work ahead. Must. Stay. Hunkered. Down. --Elise
Elise, temptation is a sneaky thing for sure!
DeleteDental work is so expensive, I don't envy you. Yes, indeed, dental quotes will cause you to go into survival mode real quick!
Just a note about dental costs... I pray I never again silently judge people with bad or missing teeth. Not even a tiny bit. And the choice IS made to pull the tooth vs. a root canal + crown, because the crown alone would be $850. Having the oral surgeon pull it will be $300-500, not including anesthetic. It would be more for root canal. With the discount dental plan, each filling is about $150, so $150 will have been wasted for one tooth that now comes out. One more will be filled next week. Then there are some small ones to take care of in the not distant future. In my case, it's due to bone loss in my jaw, exposing roots. I need treatment for that. Sigh. Never had a cavity in my life until 2020. Now I can see how hard it is to afford dental care!
ReplyDelete--Elise
Elise, Ouch! I hurt for you and your pocketbook!
DeleteHunkering down is easier when it's cold! I'm listening to the plumber repairing a major issue we couldn't deal with ourselves. This is why we are frugal, and why we have a big emergency fund. I will cancel the weekend away in March to help replenish the Emergency Fund. Grateful we have everything we need and can afford to keep up our tiny home.
ReplyDeleteSarah, you are singing my song! Yes, to everything you said!
DeleteGood for you for walking away from Amazon! That is exactly why we don't have Prime. It is just too easy!
ReplyDeleteWe literally hunkered down with the constant rain and dense fog all day long this week. So,. no money was spent. The last disability check came through and we immediately transferred it to our money market fund. It is too easy here to be in a vacation sort of mood and throw caution to the wind and buy, buy, buy. That would includes food too since we can justify just about anything as a vacation treat!
Lana, that's why we don't have Prime too, it's just too easy to just pop over and spend!
DeleteGood for you for immediately transferring your funds to where you wanted it. We too, have bouts of 'vacation mood' from time to time and like you, it's real easy for us to justify anything as a vacation treat. We have to be proactive to keep it under control.
Elise you have my sympathy. I'm losing gum/bone too. And I've no desire to spend a fortune on my mouth, vain as I am! Like you I never had a cavity or filling and made it all the way to my late 50's with that good fortune. And now my teeth are no good at all! My last dentist even told me that people like myself with excellent teeth NEVER made it without losing teeth due to gum and bone issues in the end. He said no one had ever discovered why it was so, but it was.
ReplyDeletePatsi, lol yes! I was just sitting here contemplating adding something else to my Amazon cart and decided to NOT do it. My bank account has increased ever so slightly this month from where we were at the start, despite having house insurance, auto and another annual fee come due. We've eaten all meals at home save the one time a week we've budgeted to go out and our rule there is drink water, no appetizer, no dessert. Them's the rules! Despite having budgeted money and John going out to eat with his friend/former partner, we are coming in under budget this month with our eating out fund, too. I'm proud of that. With a few exceptions, we've eaten strictly from what we had on hand January 1 of this year. My exceptions: produce and this week, while not feeling well, I used some of the convenience items I'd purchased on sale to ease me over a spell of illness should it arrive. Glad I did! It meant I wasn't begging John to go pricey take-out options saving time, money and gas. I have avoided going into any store other than the grocery and have satisfied the need to
just look by denying myself the privilege and digging deeper into things I ought to donate instead because they are eating up space.
Terri @ BlueHouseJournal
Terri, my dentist said something similar to me. It's kind of crazy (to me), but here we are. Like you, my husband and I have a going out rule of water to drink, no appetizers or dessert. There are a few restaurants we prefer because the servings are large enough to provide lunch the next day for one of us. One of those restaurants has reduced price Early Bird specials. They sent Hubs a text ad about their $99 Valentines Day special (Prime Rib w/dessert), and when he showed it to me, he smiled and said we'll go to for an Early Bird dinner the day before. :-D
DeleteI keep some convenience in the freezer and some canned soup in the pantry, too. You did great!!
--Elise
Terri, you're doing good! Amazon is just so easy isn't it!!! Maybe a little too easy!
DeletePatsy you did really well keeping to budget and smart thinking on your using your affiliate money to make the order up for free shipping and bought a book you liked. Good on you for resisting temptation of buying more items on Amazon and keeping the expenses on your meal out down and having enough for another meal.
ReplyDeleteWe are doing well and way under budget which is good and looking at perhaps saving a hefty sum at the end of this month for the new car.
I did buy a few mats we needed for the home in the rumpus room and bathroom downstairs which were needed but got them very cheaply from eBay. Apart from that the only money we have spent has been on a groceries and some medical items order to pick up on the 30th and with a promo money off deal, buying sales and half price sale items and using our 4% off e-gift card we saved $55.87 on usual prices.
Hope everyone has a wonderfully frugal week ahead.
Lorna.
Lorna, hunkering down doesn't mean we can't purchase the things we need, but it does mean that we look for the most frugal way to get those things. You did good!
DeletePatsi, yes I do have conversations like that with myself to try and justify things! I've resisted *most* spending this week as well, aside from groceries. Our grocery trip saw the whole family away from home at mealtime, and despite packing snacks, everyone was hungry. Instead of a restaurant or drive thru, we hit up the "oops, we over baked" rack at Walmart and everyone was satisfied with some discounted treats to tide them over a bit longer. It is hard to save money while shopping with the rest of the family in tow (especially when they are hungry), but I think we did ok!
ReplyDeleteI did buy a couple other things. I went into Dollar Tree to restock my supply of pink salt, and while I was there I noticed they have their garden seeds in stock, 4 packs for $1. Since a lot of the seeds I tried starting in the paper towels didn't germinate, I bought some packets. I also spent a whopping $1.25 on a 25 pack of glowsticks for the kids. We lost power one evening and, even though I have plenty of candles and flashlights, the kids were a little scared about the whole thing. I got out some glowsticks I had in my present cupboard, and that took the fear away. It turned into a party with lots of laughter and fun after that, so from then on I decided I will always keep them on hand in case of a power outage.
John's pencil sharpener broke and that has been on my list for this month. I was happy to find them on clearance at Walmart for .25 each, so I bought 4 of them.
The seeds, glowsticks, sharpeners, and extra baked goods only set us back about $15. I'd say that's pretty good for the month! My question of "help or hinder?" has really aided me through my decisions.
Thank you for letting us know the seeds are on at Dollar Tree! The snack from the marked down bakery rack was a great idea!
DeleteKelsey, the glow sticks are good idea and that was some smart thinking to get a 'snack' from the 'oops we over baked' section. Your trip to the Dollar Tree was also productive, I'd say you did pretty good too! Way to go!
DeleteY’all are doing a great job!!!
ReplyDeleteLee Ann, there have been some 'oop's I almost fell off the wagon' moments', but all in all, so far, we're hanging on for dear life. I'm anxious to see how it all washes out at the end of the month.
Delete